Cito Veneficus Subolesco
by Polymagus
Summary: AU 6th Yr. Harry returns to the Dursley's for his last time, there's an attack on Privet drive leaving Harry in a bad way, only one person has survived it prior, Merlin. Discontinued, up for adoption pm me first
1. Don't Wake Up The Dursley's

Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the plot, and even that has had some external influences. JKR owns the lot, lucky woman...

Best to get this show on the road the really. So it begins.

Chapter 1

On the corner of Privet drive, a teenage boy just out of his 5th year of schooling was laying in the grass gazing up at the stars. Over the course of the summer, now approaching three weeks, this teenage boy had regularly taken up this past-time. It allowed him peace away from number four where his 'family', the Dursley's, drove him like a slave. Cleaning rooms, making dinner, landscaping the garden and even getting him to do their neighbors work as well.

However, this night in July wasn't the same as every other night that had passed (and slowly at that). This night brought with it a sticky heat like never before seen on privet drive. It made the boys hand-me-down clothes stick to his skin, which was quite a feat considering that they were previously owned by his killer whale look-a-like cousin, Dudley Dursley.

Harry Potter had a very bad feeling about this particular night, if it wasn't for the constant tingling on his forehead where his cursed scar was then he would have gone back to Privet drive quite awhile ago. It was well passed midnight, yet this odd, almost sickening feeling kept him up and alert. He didn't know how long he had been laying there for, but considering the amount of 'cracks' and 'pops' he heard from his 'guard' apparating and dissapparating, it must have been over two hours.

Just as one more pop was heard, signaling the departure of an order member, Harry must have heard what must have been a dozen cracks. Startling him, he cautiously got up from his cramped position and crouched low to the ground. Checking his surroundings that no-one was there, or at least visible, he slowly withdrew his holly and phoenix feather wand from his pocket.

_'Death Eaters'_ was the only rational thought going through his mind.

Harry was still not of age which was seventeen in the wizarding world, so legally he couldn't do magic outside of Hogwarts. But, if his hunch was correct and death eaters were approaching number four where he was believed to be, then he wouldn't hesitate to use his wand. After, what could the ministry do if it was in self defense?

Being as stealthy as possible by keeping low to the ground, Harry slowly made his way to the rear of number one. Once he was out of view from the main street, Harry climbed over the very kept and tidy garden fence. Continuing this path until he reached number fours back garden, Harry made his way into the house through the back door that was left unlocked for Dudley, for when he returned from probably beating up an innocent child, no doubt Mark Evans was a victim again.

Passing through the kitchen and into the hallway, for once in his life Harry was pleased that he was so small and scrawny, it allowed him to make his way up to his bedroom without making a sound. Though to Harry, his heartbeat seemed to be so loud. It made him constantly worry that the Dursley's would wake up.

Once up the stairs and into his small bedroom, Harry grabbed the nearest piece of parchment, dipped his quill into and ink bottle, and started to write a note.

_Dumbledore, or to whoever receives this note,_

_I think there are death eaters at Privet drive. Voldemort's anticipating something, I can feel it..._

At that moment a huge bang was heard. Harry darted to the window, the wards around the house had collapsed, and a shimmering gold light fell like water to the ground.

Harry quickly finished his note and made a very quick check through to make sure it was clear.

_Dumbledore, or to whoever receives this note,_

_I think there are death eaters at Privet drive. Voldemort's anticipating something, I can feel it. The wards have collapsed._

_There here, hurry._

_Harry_

Attaching the note to Hedwig's leg, Harry opened the window. "Take this to Dumbledore Hedwig, and hurry!" With a soft hoot Hedwig darted out the window.

_'God speed girl, fly like the wind'_ with that last thought, Harry (not giving a damn about the wizarding laws right now) packed all of his possessions, shrunk his trunk, broomstick and Hedwig's cage. Placing them in his pocket and casting a sticking charm to them, allowing him to fight and not have to worry about losing his treasured possessions, even if that did include potions books.

After one final check through of his room, including under the loose floorboard, Harry made his way slowly but surely down the stairs. As Harry turned a corner at the bottom of the stairs, he heard a commotion, noting that the high cackling voice belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange. He distinctly heard two other voices that made him feel ill. Pettigrew and Malfoy Sr.

For all three of these death eaters, Harry had a different reason for them making his blood boil. Bellatrix was for what she had done to Sirius last year at the Department of Mysteries. Pettigrew a.k.a Wormtail (even though he doesn't deserve a nickname of a marauder) because he had led Voldemort to his parents, betraying them in the process. A fate which will soon be paid.

And Malfoy, there were so many reasons for hating the senior Malfoy. He was the reason Ginny's first year at Hogwarts had been a nightmare. He was the reason Hagrid had been sent to Azkaban for a short period of time. And in the end, he was to blame for petrifying Hermione. He also hated the man because he was the reason Draco Malfoy was alive. The junior Malfoy was quite literally a mortal enemy. Everyone knew that Harry and Malfoy didn't see eye to eye. _'Understatement of the century' _thought Harry.

Thinking back to the situation at hand, Harry realized he was outnumbered at least ten to one (a chance that not even Ludo Bagman would take). No way would he be able to save himself and at the same time protect the sleeping Dursley's. Harry would just have to keep on fighting until the order arrived, if they arrived at all.

Breathing out one last breath which he hadn't realized he was holding, Harry swung around the last corner directly facing the now non-existent front door. The white masks facing him glowed eerily by the glow of the moonlight and the street lamps.

Before anything could happen to Harry, he began to cast

"STUPEFY, PETRIFICUS TOTALUS, STUPEFY, GLACIAS!" The last spell surprised Harry when it worked to perfection, he had only read about it the previous night. A total of four death eaters slumped to the floor like planks, though quickly replaced by more.

"Ahh, ickle wee Potter has come out to play with the big boys and girls, how sweet" The voice owned to one Bellatrix Lestrange. It was her mocking baby voice she used when Sirius fell through the veil. If Harry thought his temper couldn't rise any more, he was sorely mistaken. His breathing became more ragged, his eyes concentrating on a small part of the floor.

If anyone had taken the time to notice, they would have realized that the boy's eyes were not his usual emerald green, but golden, emitting huge amounts of power, coming off of them in waves.

"Don't mock me Trixi, you're the one who ran away from that fight to kiss your half-blooded masters feet." Bellatrix's eyes widened after that statement, not only was she being mocked by a soon to be sixteen year old but had also been told she was following a half-blood, a hypocritical half-blood.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!" Bellatrix screamed.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry yelled.

The force at which the spell hit made her wand snap in two. She flew through the air. The power behind the spell made her fly out to the front garden. She landed roughly on one of the gardens front lawn picket fence posts, stabbing her through the spine instantly killing her. Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black wasn't going to be casting any more lethal spells ever again.

* * *

Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk in his office staring at one of the founder's artifacts: the sword of Gryffindor. It was still intriguing that a certain raven haired boy could pull that out of the Sorting Hat. Even after three years it baffled him. Harry Potter certainly was one of the most complicated students that had come to Hogwarts, that was for certain.

Thinking about the boy was one of the hardest things the professor had come across this past summer break. It reminded him of so much that had happened the previous school year: Sirius falling through the veil, Arthur Weasley's attack, but what hurt the headmaster the most wasn't the injuries, no, what hurt the most was the trust he had lost with Harry.

Without realizing it, the professor had become like the grandfather figure in Harry's life. A position not taken lightly, any wrong move and he could have been shunned. He had had chance after chance to help Harry, to tell him the prophecy, but every single time it wasn't 'right'. It would take a miracle to get the relationship he had with Harry back again. But as ever, Professor Dumbledore was a great believer in miracles.

From behind the headmaster, a soft whooshing noise was heard. Turning around, Dumbledore immediately went over to the silver ornament. To any normal teacher or student in his office, this would have been looked upon as an everyday artifact that was in the headmaster's office. Only Dumbledore truly knew of its purpose. It had been created almost fifteen years ago the night Harry was taken to Privet drive. It contained a single drop of Harry's blood and plenty of raw magic. Casting spells over and over on the ornament, Dumbledore realized it wasn't telling a lie. 'Harry's in trouble' thought Dumbledore before he went to his fireplace and sent urgent fire calls to Alastor Moody, Arabella Figg, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape all saying the same thing. "Get to Privet drive, now!"

* * *

Harry was struggling; he had been hit with various curses and hexes, most of them just grazing his skin due to his seeker-like reflexes. Harry knew he could take down death eaters, he proved that at the ministry, it was just the sheer number of them. From what he could tell, apart from Pettigrew and Malfoy, pretty much all of the others were new recruits or just brawn, which didn't really count much in a wizarding battle.

Time stopped whenever he was at the end of a curse, but the rest of the time it was as if he was in a lightning mode. On a couple of occasions he swore he saw his wand cast two spells at the same time. It seemed that at the tip if his wand, the spell was splitting. Putting it to the back of his mind, Harry peeped round the living room door.

Ducking a purple stream of light, Harry rolled over to his right behind the couch in the living room. He knew he was cornering himself, but at the moment he figured best to stay alive, than be facing them full on. Checking in the glass cabinet to see if there were any reflections of death eaters, Harry spotted Pettigrew peeping round the door.

Taking action, Harry pivoted up and round, wand arm outstretched to meet Pettigrew.

"STUPEFY!" the balding man slumped to the floor, an expression of shock written all over his face. Taking his opportunity, Harry grasped Pettigrew's wand and snapped it in two after which he quickly retreated to his position behind the couch.

_'Perhaps this isn't a bad spot after all; I've got cover, and an advantage of me seeing them, and them not seeing me. I just hope Hedwig has delivered her letter already'_

As if on cue, Harry heard a very distinct 'expelliarmus' growled towards the death eaters outside. A growling voice of that kind could only be his 3rd year defense professor. All Harry had to do now was to survive, he'd made it this far.

Once again checking the cabinet, and seeing two death eaters forcing themselves into the room, something clicked in Harry's mind.

Muttering "Serpentsortia" and conjuring a fair sized boa snake, Harry ordered it to attack all those in black robes. A couple of seconds later, screams were heard, both male and female, yelling that a giant snake was trying to kill them. Suddenly those two voices stopped, the boa had strangled them to death.

The living room was once again empty, though only for a short while, a billowing cloak entered, tailing it a golden white stream of hair.

"You cannot hide Potter" Malfoy spat "Even your petty guard cannot help you now. AVADA KEDAVRA!" The emerald green light pierced the couch, obliterating it in the process. The green light struck Harry on the back of his neck. Instantly collapsing, his body slumped, and blood from his injuries surrounding him.

What Malfoy didn't expect next was for the 'giant' boa to wrap itself round his neck, constricting him, and plunging it's fangs into his open flesh. As soon as Malfoy touched the ground, silence ruled.

Minutes passed whilst Dumbledore and the others stunned the now awoken Dursley's. Honestly, you would have thought they would have woken up earlier from all the screaming and shouting. Now three bodies were back in their respective bedrooms, ready to be obliterated of all memories of Harry.

Severus Snape had taken a huge gamble tonight by revealing himself and fighting for the light. No more could he spy on Voldemort, his job had been completed, his promise to Lily to keep Harry safe complete. Now finished with dueling, Snape went round number four, checking on who had died, or had been stunned. One odd occasion, a middle aged man called Faragon had been frozen to death. Not once had he seen that done. Whoever had cast that spell must have had astronomical amounts of power. The only other recording of any side affect after unfreezing was a slight case of pneumonia.

Upon entering the living room, he found Malfoy, and a snake hissing at him. Some destruction must have occurred in this room, large piles of rubble everywhere.

"Evanesca Isis", the snake vanished into thin air, returning to where it had been before conjured.

'_So Malfoy's dead, Draco's going to be a pain this year then.' _Muttering a cleaning charm to get rid of all the rubble so the Dursley's wouldn't note a thing, Severus' face went from pale, to white. There, in a pool of blood was the Potter brat.

"ALBUS! POTTER…HE'S…ALBUS!" Dumbledore was instantly standing beside Severus, flagged by Mrs. Figg, Remus and Alastor.

Limping forward, Alastor scoped the boy up into his arms, "He's still breathing Albus, but barely, best get him to Poppy immediately.

Shocked into action, Dumbledore grabbed a china ornament, muttered "Portus", and almost instantaneously they were in Hogwart's hospital wing. Laying Harry down on the bed and yelling out for Poppy, Alastor turned to Dumbledore.

"Alastor, would you go back with Arabella to Privet drive to sort everything out, I no doubt that the Ministry officials will be there by now."

Grabbing hold of the ornament again, Mad-eye and Mrs. Figg were gone.

"Severus, I need you to brew the strongest healing potion you can concoct, Remus, go to the Weasley's, and tell them what happened. I'll assist Poppy."

Orders received, the remaining 'rescuers' left the hospital wing

'_Yes, definitely a complicated student. I think it's time he truly knew.'_ Was the last thought before him and Poppy got to work.

* * *

So what did you fink, I was quite pleased, REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS,

To next time,

Polymagus


	2. Cito Veneficus Subolesco

Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the plot, and even that has had some external influences. JKR owns the lot, lucky woman...

Chapter 2:

It had been two and a half hours after Harry's unexpected arrival and Poppy Pomfrey was still none the wiser as to why he was in this unique comatose state. She had healed all of his scrapes and bruises, checked for any internal damage (mending some broken bones in the process), mental health and magical levels, but none of them explained why he was in a comatose state. The only odd thing that she could tell was when she checked his magical health; his magical levels were all over the place. One minute they were full to the brim, practically pushing the boundaries of his magic reserves, the next he was almost like a squib, some magical energy, but not enough to even cast a simple stunner. To put it simply, she was dumbstruck. In all of her professional working career as a healer and nurse, she had never come across something so unique.

On the other hand, Dumbledore was starting to tire. Even though he was the one that Voldemort supposedly feared the most, his exhaustion came down to a simple cause, old age. He wasn't in his peak anymore, nor had he been for quite awhile. After his defeat of Grindewald, he never truly recovered; however, the poor boy before him was in a worse condition than himself at the moment.

Whilst Poppy had been healing the poor child, the headmaster had been researching all types of healing spell and diagnostic charms. He had checked his personal library in his office and even the restricted section, but to no avail. None of them meeting the type of symptoms Harry had. There were cures for magical depletion, potions for magical reserve restorations, but none nearly as close to Harry. When cast they seemed to either bounce off of his body or simply just be absorbed, the spell taking no effect whatsoever. The ageing professor was racking his mind, thinking over the last one-hundred and fifty odd years he had lived for some kind of spell. There were very few spells he didn't know, both old a new. It had certainly taken some time with the pensieve to find a spell, but there was one, it was draining to say the least. He wasn't sure if he could cope, however given the circumstances, there was no other way. Dumbledore instantly took the risk. Knowing full well that he himself could be in a hospital bed afterwards.

"Poppy, as you can see the poor boy is fully healed as far as possible at the moment. I have an idea, but... well, could you fetch me a vial of strengthening potion and a pepper-up potion for me please." After a few attempts to convince the headmaster not to take the potions at his age, and for only in emergency's, she conceded. After all, this was an emergency.

"Thank you." Poppy almost trotted out to her office after she had agreed to do so. She knew the headmaster was up to something, but she had no idea what he was going to attempt.

She returned to Dumbledore's side with the potions in question and placed the tray down on the bedside table. Dumbledore picked up the green potion, smelt it briefly and after a few swallows replaced the vial empty. He walked over to Harry's bed side, ready to begin and deliberately leaving the other potion on the tray.

"Aren't you going to take the pepper-up potion Albus?" The healer asked

"No my dear, that is for when I finish, if I finish at all." Only a confused glance and a slightly paler face was any type of answer the headmaster got from Poppy.

Standing up straight and taking a few deep breaths, he pointing his wand at the boys heart and began to cast the almost forgotten spell.

"Ostendo Sum Alica Iacio" he repeated these words several times. It wasn't until his wand tip began to glow blue that anyone could see that the spell was actually working. After the light had appeared, instantaneously a golden light appeared above Harry's heart, spreading out like a spider's web. Every now and then a color appeared on the web-like-grid. After the five minute mark of holding the spell, allowing the grid to complete, a sweat bead broke out on the headmaster's forehead signaling his struggle. Poppy now understood truly why he needed the pepper-up potion for afterwards. It took a further four minutes to complete, but it was complete none the less, that is what was important. Harry was covered in a golden grid, splashed every now and then with colors of the rainbow.

"Albus, what is the meaning of this?" Poppy Pomfrey asked dazed and confused.

"This Poppy, is a spell that reveals the spells that have been cast on young Harry here. You see here," his long bony finger pointed to the boy's leg "the red color means a bludgeoning curse or something similar, on several parts of his body we see the signs of these, but what intrigues me the most is the green glow coming from the back of his neck."

Turning the boy over, Poppy gasped and Dumbledore nodded a sad nod. It was a great thing, and a terrible one that prophecy. It had saved his life, but cost so many others their own.

"You see Poppy, that emerald green glow coming from young Harry's neck is the sign of a killing curse, you may have seen a lightning bolt shaped green color on his forehead just a minute ago. This one on the back of his neck is a lot more recent, and considering the room in which we found him, I strongly suspect that it was the late Mr. Malfoy who cast it." Albus gave his explanation in his most solemn tone, he had gotten his answer and knew what was to happen now, but he truly hoped that Harry would pull through.

He waved his wand again, making the golden grid retract and disappear from sight, he then turned Harry over onto his back again to make him more comfortable, however, the green glow of the killing curse residue lingered on for a short while after the grid had disappeared, truly showing the power needed to put into that sort of curse.

"But surely Albus, with all due respect to the boy, he should be dead. He may have survived one killing curse, but two, that's just outrageous."

"It is indeed true, he is lucky and not so surprisingly alive, you see Poppy" he paused "young Harry is very special, he cannot be killed" A gasp could have been heard at the bottom of the lake. The merpeople certainly would have heard it if there weren't any walls." You misunderstand me Poppy; the only one who can kill Harry here is either himself, or Voldemort."

Dumbledore picked up the last potion and drunk it almost eagerly. The potion almost immediately took affect. Some rosy red was coming back to his cheeks. The ageing professor took a seat in the nearby chair next to Harry's bed, obviously waiting for the rest of the potion to kick in.

"I can safely say that Harry is in no harm from any poisons, broken bones, mental stress or any other possibility you can come up with Poppy. If my understanding of this situation is correct, and Harry comes through this, then we will be seeing a much improved boy. But alas, he is in for a very hard struggle. I doubt that anyone else living has even theorized what has happened. However, I am grateful that Nicholas had lived so long. I am in his debt for allowing me this knowledge that I am about to reveal to you." Dumbledore said whilst looking up to the confused matron.

Seeing the odd expression in the school nurses face Dumbledore continued to elaborate.

"What is happening to Harry has only happened once before, it has also happened to Merlin." a different sharp intake of breath was heard from the door, it was more of a low rumble when the breath was taken in. It only meant one person, and Dumbledore knew exactly who. "You can come in Remus; there is no need to worry."

"Sorry Professor, it was just I heard about the killing curse, and I wasn't sure if it was in my right to interrupt." Remus said

"There is no need to worry as I've already said, you may join us if you wish, and I suspect that Harry will want to see you a lot more of you this coming year, given the circumstances." Remus nodded his approval and joined madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore.

"As I was saying, Harry is a special case that has only happened to Merlin many centuries ago. You see when someone's magic is 'knocked of course' shall we say, as the killing curse has done, it can go in two different directions. It can deplete the magic reserves in our body, never to be refilled, leaving Harry as nothing more than a squib. Or it can do extraordinary things. It can cause Harry's magic to increase tenfold. The killing curse has acted as a catalyst to Harry's magical maturity, it has sped up the natural process of magical growth, making it unstable, and thus why he is in his current state. His body is fighting with itself for domination and control over his magical abilities. It is a very delicate process. It is my belief that Merlin, or Myrddin as he was known at the time, was in a coma for a total of six days before he woke. It is not known what 'knocked' Merlin's magic of course, but it certainly helped him afterwards. For he built Camelot, and towards the end of his era, before he disappeared, helped the Hogwart's founders with the very heart of this school. According to Merlin's manuscripts, Harry is going through what is called Cito Veneficus Subolesco, simply meaning quickened magical maturity, CVS for short."

A very eerie silence ruled over the hospital wing, both Remus and Poppy was listening intently, soaking up the information on Harry's condition. As disturbing as it was, it did bring a slight hope to the light. If Harry survived this, then it would be like having Merlin on their side, Voldemort would be in serious trouble.

"We are also very fortunate, for not only the colors on the grid have meaning, but the grid itself. The color of the grid indicates his intentions. In this case it was gold, meaning that his heart is pure, and true to what he believes in. If I was to do the same to Voldemort say then I would be witness to a black grid, his heart blackened from hatred and sins. The other meaning from the grid is its brightness, to put it simply, the brighter the grid, the more powerful the person is. Harry's is almost blinding if looked at for set periods of time."

"But Albus, he has his magical boost that you said about, doesn't that mean his grid should be bright?" Poppy questioned.

"Aah, another problem that I have an answer for. Harry has barely started with his internal fight, the grid we saw is the same grid you would have seen last year, or the year previous to that."

"That has to be impossible, I mean he can't be that powerful can he, I mean I know he's good in defense and charms and transfiguration, but he's nothing special." Remus stated with a hint of worry in his voice.

"It is simple to say that Harry doesn't know of his full power extent, it has been suppressed from not living in the magical world for so long. We fill our reserves from the surroundings, like your magic is fueled by the full moon when you transform Remus. Magic is everywhere, and we tap into it even in our sleep. After being back in the magical world for just over five years, his reserves are almost full again. That's why muggleborns excel when in their 5th, 6th and 7th years here." Dumbledore paused, pinched the bridge of his nose, showing his tiredness.

"All we can do now is wait, I think it would be wise if we had both Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger at Hogwarts. Nothing beats having a good friend beside you when you are in a struggle, you of all people should know that Remus. I know you've explained to the Weasley's the situation at hand, but could you return and invite them to stay at Hogwart's, if not for their sake, but for Harry's. You can do the same with Ms. Granger as well, I believe that she is in the French Alps at the moment investigating griffin breeding."

A nod was all Dumbledore received before Remus left by the fireplace, "Poppy, all I can ask you to do is to watch over Harry and keep in check his CVS, and he is in for a hard week. Do inform me if anything arises." With that Dumbledore left contemplating what Harry was in store for. It had been a long night, starting at 3am, ending at dawn. He was in desperate need for sleep.

* * *

REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS

I know this chapter was shorter than the previous one, but what can I say, it's a conversation in the hospital wing. I didn't want to introduce Ron or 'Mione yet, so I cut it off there. What did you think anyway? I've re-done this chapter, added a few bits here and there. So...?

To next time,

Polymagus


	3. A Helping Hand From My Ancestor

Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the plot, and even that has had some external influences. JKR owns the lot, lucky woman...

Chapter 3:

Harry couldn't feel anything, his whole body was numb. 'Is this death' he thought. He felt his surroundings; he was laying down, his arms around his knees. With slight trouble Harry opened his eyes, only to be met with a vast white plain, he was on what could only be described as a cloud. The fog like substance passing around his body, almost blinding him from the light emitting off of it. There was no wind though, no sounds, just nothingness. It seemed that he was the only one there.

He stood up, questions, random thoughts running through his mind. He remembered what had happened. Images of the attack on Privet drive clouding the rest of the thoughts. He saw in his mind's eye Bellatrix impaled on the garden fence, Pettigrew stunned on the floor near him ('I wonder what happened to him, will Sirius be cleared if the order had him?'), and the sickening sound of the killing curse. His last thought was the excruciating pain he had endured from that curse. 'Surely if I can feel pain, that must mean I'm not dead.'

"The prophecy" he muttered out load. The prophecy had protected him, only Voldemort could kill him. He had done the impossible again. This time without his mothers help. 'Great, just what I need, more attention'

As if on instinct he slowly placed his hand on the back of his neck. His fingers slowly traced a cut, a very thin lightning bolt shaped cut.

Harry stood up, his legs feeling dead for a second or two. His body ached all over, from the very tips of his hair to the nails on his toes, it all ached. Wandering around to find out where and why he was here, Harry found that from what he could see, this place he was in was endless. There were no sudden drops, nothing to indicate that this was real. From behind him Harry heard a small cough. The ones to attempt to grab your attention. Spinning around he came face to face with a man that looked slightly like Professor Dumbledore, though he didn't have blue twinkling eyes, but deep emerald. These eyes were identical to Harry's, though his own eyes were much looked older than he was. However this old man's eyes indicated that he was a lot more youthful than his outer appearance; a brilliant sparkle always present.

"Hello Harry." It wasn't a greeting, but more of a statement.

"Umm, not to be rude, but where am I and who are you, 'cos the last thing I remember was Malfoy shooting the killing curse at me. Is this heaven or something, can I see my parents?" Harry said. He had so many questions flowing through his mind that he didn't know what ones to ask first.

"To put it simply Harry, you are my heir. I'm your ancestor helping you to get through this stage. You see Harry, you power is increasing at such a rate at the moment that your almost killing yourself in the process. You are going through Cito Veneficus Subolesco, and only I can help you at the moment, being a relative and another victim of CVS." The old man said

"But that still doesn't answer who you are and what I'm doing here. Where is here anyway?"

"Calm yourself Harry, this abyss you see is your own mind, it is the ninety percent of it that you do not use like every other witch, wizard or human." The old man could see the shocked look on the boys face. "I see you still need convincing, if you allow it, I'm about to show you a glimpse of the ten percent that you do use." A nod was all he needed.

Instantly Harry was bombarded with random thought, phrases and memories. It was like looking at a highway of thoughts. Yellow, purple, blue gold lights flying past every now and then. It was enough to tell that the old man wasn't lying. In a slightly longer pause, they were back in the empty space.

Harry was breathing hard, that wasn't an experience that he would like to do again. His whole body began to ache more than it had done when he awoke.

"As you saw Harry, you were using the ten percent of your brain to the fullest, it actually causes you pain because of it. The barriers were straining to hold it all in. The killing curse that was shot at you has made them unstable far worse than what they usually are, unless I do something about it. The same thing that I had to go through. You have so much knowledge Harry, but it is scrambled and unorganized, that's why a certain witch that you care for is seen as smart. She has a very organized mind. I do believe that it shows in her day to day activities."

"Can I get your name, it's really awkward just talking and being rude." With a grin, the old man muttered, "Just like you mother, polite, though with a slight temper. I have many names, I have been known as Myrddin, Emrys, and even sometimes Merda, but I believe the most common one that is used, and that you should know is Merlin."

If it was possible, Harry's jaw would have dropped to the ground. It was at this point that Harry expected someone like Fred and George to appear from nowhere and tell him that they had played a prank on him.' But what he showed me, my mind, my mother's traits. Those weren't lies.'

"So let me get this straight, I'm in my own mind, the bit that I don't use, you are Merlin, the Merlin, and I'm becoming more powerful every second, and not am I only your relative, but your heir as well."

"In a nutshell yes, but that is only part of the story. You will have to figure out the rest on your own, though I strongly suggest you employ the help of Ms. Granger. The only hint I can give you is that your mother's family were squibs for many generations to come. I do believe that is was my daughter Guinevere who got the red hair, though of course it could have been from many other outsiders marrying into the Evans family."

"Now before I leave you, I'm going to unlock the rest of your mind, well, as much as possible anyway. I can use around eighty percent of mine. It is your job to organize it and use it to your fullest. I do believe when Lady Vivien" A blank look on Harry's face appeared. "The Lady of the Lake Harry, unlocked my mind when I was in this state, afterwards I found reading easier, I could gain knowledge after reading it, wandless magic was like a natural gift, like your Parseltongue ability. And as you know, I was a certain type of animagus. I was a Polymagus, I could change into what I wanted after I had studied it's anatomy, though the first ever transformation that can happen would be the one you would have been normally anyway. There are so many abilities that not even I fully understand. And I do believe that you will have many more of the 'powers' than I, simply because you are a much more powerful wizard. I suspect that if CVS didn't happen to you, by the time you had reached 100, you would have had the same amount of power as me."

Harry gave a sharp nod," Can we get this over and done with, not to be rude, but I'd rather it be short and sweet, than have this nervous feeling in my stomach." This instantly indicated for Merlin to unlock his mind.

"This is going to be painful Harry, far worse that the Cruciatus curse, but afterwards you should wake, though in a rather uncomfortable state. It has already been 8 days since you were retrieved from that house, two more than mine I might add. We can expect very amazing things from you Harry, don't forget that. Now, onto this whole unlocking the mind malarkey."

Outstretching his two arms, Merlin began to mumble words that Harry had never before heard before, the white 'fog' turned to gold around him, emitting a deep golden spark every now and then. After a couple of minutes Harry felt a gentle pressure on his mind. More minutes passed and the pain got worse and worse. The very tips of all of his nerves felt as if the were on fire. His brain being the biggest nerve receptor was in excruciating pain. Harry couldn't think, but if he could, he would have thought, 'Yer, just a bit worse than the cruciatus.' You could always trust Harry to be humorous in unpleasant times. Closing his eyes because the pain was getting too much and falling to his knees, Harry let out a scream of pain. Then nothing, just blackness.

* * *

Poppy Pomfrey was once again checking over Harry, both Hermione and Ron wondering what she was doing. It had been almost 8 days since they had arrived at Hogwarts; Hermione had only been there for 7 days. She did have to get from the French Alps to Scotland in a muggle populated area after all. In both of their opinions however, it was eight days too long.

Madam Pomfrey's spells were always correct; she had been using them for over 50 years. To say she was adept in healing would be an insult; she was a mistress in the field. So when one spell came up as Harry showing some signs of consciousness, she was to say the least, surprised.

Ron and Hermione had been discussing what they had all been through together in their time at Hogwarts. From their 1st year, all the way to Umbridge last year. Suddenly Madam Pomfrey yelled out "Albus!" the echo of her voice rang through the empty school, meeting the headmasters frayed old ears. That did not stop him however. It was a good job he was the headmaster, he had taken up the office of Rowena Ravenclaw when he had arrived. It was not known where Gryffindor's office and chambers were. It was said to be near the very heart of the school. He had chosen his current office though for a variety of reason, it had hidden passages leading to each individual common room, and to the infirmary. Taken the said passage, he appeared just outside the giant wood oak doors guarding the infirmary. Entering, he rushed over to the only occupied bed.

"He appears to be in pain Albus, there's nothing I can do about it. I don't want to give him any pain relief potions because his case is unique. He could react with it, and given the circumstances, I would be responsible if he lost his magical ability. He's been nothing but quite, but his facial expressions explain it all. To say I'm worried would be an understatement."

Dumbledore leaned over the young man, what he saw surprised him to say the least. Harry was sweating bucket loads, his eyebrows furrowed, his mouth opening and shutting, as if he was screaming or yelling with a silencing charm on him. The boy was bright red, Weasley hair red; he was in terrible pain; that much was obvious. 'Is he finally coming out of his coma? It must be nearly time, eight days is two days too long in my opinion.' He gently placed his hand on Harry's forehead; it was risky but would answer so many questions. Dumbledore was going to cast Legilems.

"Legilems", what he saw would have put an average witch or wizard in St. Mungo's for therapy. But this was Dumbledore, possibly the most adept wizard to exist. Well considering if Harry pulls through this he would be in 2nd or 3rd place. He saw so much pain and suffering of the boys past, he almost felt sick because he was the cause of this, he had sent him to the Dursley's whereas Lily and James had wanted him to be with Sirius or Carmen, his Godfather or Godmother. Suddenly Dumbledore was forced out of Harry's mind with such a force that he was sent coursing through the air, landing on the floor and skidding to the oak doors.

At that point, Harry's eyes darted open, he sat upright, and he let out a scream of pain. Everybody in that room jumped back, out of shock and the terrible scream, apart from Dumbledore who was still on the floor. Remus, Molly and Arthur Weasley entered just as he slumped back down to his bed. One word was heard just before he fell unconscious, "Help."

Getting straight to work, Madam Pomfrey told everyone to get out of her way. Casting checking and diagnosis spells over Harry she finally let out a sigh of relief.

"He's unconscious, nothing more. He appears to be in good health. A little underweight, well quite a bit actually, he is going to have to have an eye on what he eats that's for sure. He's mentally ok but something was odd. My diagnosis charm of his mental health stopped halfway through. It was as if my spell couldn't read his entire mind."

"How very strange." was all Dumbledore said. He knew of course that it was to be expected after what he had seen. "I think all we can do now is wait until he wakes up again. I will not be amazed if he makes a fairly fast recovery from now on. I can tell you that Harry has not become a squib, as you saw from his little demonstration earlier." A few giggles past the mouth of Hermione. "Just be wary of his temper from now on you two," He turned to Hermione and Ron, "especially you Mr. Weasley, I don't want you to take this as an offense, but given your current record, you have been the source of one or two of his tempers." Ron gave a solemn nod as he was brutally told the truth.

"A word of caution, you will do best not to get on Harry's wrong side this year. I will speak to professor Snape to tell him to warn young Mr. Malfoy. He will certainly want revenge for what Harry did to his father."

Hermione and Ron at the same time muttered "Yes sir."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went over to their boy, flagged by a worrying Ginny. Hermione being absorbed in the Weasley gathering was also attacked with Mrs. Weasley's glare to say, 'Do as the headmaster says.'

"We know Mrs. Weasley, we both know." Hermione said.

After that, everyone apart from madam Pomfrey, Hermione and Ginny left to their rooms. Ron was taking a detour however to the kitchens.

Both girls were thinking the exact same thought 'What are we going to do about you Harry, what are we going to do.

* * *

So there we have it. I got my first review, yay, thanks Dragonkiss1984. That was the 3rd chapter. I sort of just re-read chapter three and thought it a bit vague in parts, and not really the length I wanted it to be so I added and extra thousand words to it. Hope you like the new and improved version.

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Till next time

Polymagus


	4. Too Much Information

Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the plot, and even that has had some external influences. JKR owns the lot, lucky woman...

Chapter 4:

Two days had passed since Harry's unexpected 'show'. The days seemed to last forever to whoever was watching over him. Ron and Hermione hadn't left Harry's side unless is was for meals, sleep, or sometimes in Hermione's case, visiting the library. Though it wasn't normal visits to the library for 'light reading', Hermione was using all of her will and brain power to get more knowledge of Harry's condition. It was her biggest challenge to date, and that is saying something.

There weren't many references to Harry's condition in Hogwarts' library; it only suggested that in his mid 30's Merlin had gone through a stage of 'magic awakening'. And that wasn't a very good lead at all. Hermione suspected that what she truly wanted to know resided in the restricted section. '_Shame Lockhart isn't teaching to get another autograph' _thought Hermione

Harry had now been under madam Pomfrey's care for ten days now. At every moment in time, someone was beside Harry. Whether it be talking to him about complete and utter nonsense, reading to him (Hermione could now say Harry had at least heard all the contents of Hogwarts: A history now) or whether it be simply keeping him company. Everybody wanted Harry to be up and out of bed as soon as possible. After all, it was only a week until his birthday; he would be sixteen, a good age to be in most teenagers minds. It meant NEWTS and a lot more homework sure, but it also meant girls, maturity, and possibly in your best ever physical state. Not to mention only having a year before you came of age and could do magic outside of school.

Ron and Hermione had just re-entered the infirmary, they took their seats beside Harry's bed. Hermione took out the latest copy of Hogwarts: A History that mentioned Harry a few times, whilst Ron rummaged around in his bag carrier for his chocolate frog card collection.

However, in Hermione's case, she wasn't paying any particular attention to her latest book. She had too many thoughts in her mind. It was a fairly new concept to her. Previously she had relied on facts and knowledge to solve a problem, or asked someone else with the knowledge. It was as if a stray thought or two had still not been organized in her mind and couldn't find a spot to place them. These stray thoughts were always of Harry, popping in and out of her mind '_He is brave, true to his heart and his beliefs in what should be done', 'He was so mistreated and yet here he is, charming, loving and caring'. _Yes, Hermione was slowly coming round to the idea that she had more complex feelings with Harry than she did Ron. He wasn't just her friend anymore.

Ron's thoughts on the other hand were far from perfect and respectful. It ran more along the lines of, _'Great, so he's rich, he's got Hermione swooning over him, that's obvious. And now he's going to be as powerful as blooming Merlin. Sure, out first year was alright, he just had a famous name tag, and I got a bit of attention out of that to. Second year he starts his whole '_Hero Complex'. _Though did have some highs I suppose, he was thought to be the heir of Slytherin. But then he had to go and save his sister, boy was that hard to smile at him after that. I was the one who was supposed to save my sister, not him. Now Ginny's all lovey dovey over him as well. Not that I like Ginny in that way, but I could have been her savior. Jeez, the he finds that Gryffindor sword, he gets more attraction, whoopee for him. And then he was able to summon a phoenix. And not even his phoenix.' _

Ron paused so he could gather a mental breath, this was possibly the most thinking he had done in the last five years. It was a terrible strain. _'So then his third year. Fairly normal considering really. At thirteen he had a criminal after him. I was giddy for weeks just from the thought; it was almost like Christmas had come early. He gains loyalty to a Hippogriff, and was able to conjure a corporeal patronus at only his age. It was an auror level spell for f'ing sake. He shouldn't be allowed to do those charms; it just gives him more attention. And then onto the 4th year, possibly the best and worst year I've had, that's for sure. The Triwizard Tournament takes place, I actually get a chance to be famous, but then that dream is diminished by Dumbledore. Vicky comes along and snatches Hermione from my grasp and now Harry's doing the same. Harry gets into the TWT, and doesn't even let me know. I still think Dumbledore had something to do with letting Harry to enter. Always had a soft spot with him. And then last year when he goes and makes his secret group that is successful and people admire him for it. He gets everything, and all I have is, well nothing. Why can't he-who-must-not-be-named just finish it all off already. Either stop his antics or get killed. That way I can make some money out of Harry from being his friend and I could give interviews and sign books called '_My Life beside the boy-who-lived' _and heck he's even got his own world known nickname. All I got is Weasel from Malfoy.'_

_An almost evil and cunning grin worthy of Salazar Slytherin himself crept upon Ron's face. Luckily Hermione didn't notice. She was daydreaming again. A now common occurrence when around Harry._

As if Harry had read Ron's thoughts, he awoke and slowly but surely gave out a croaky "Hey." His throat hurt slightly. It was dry, therefore having trouble to talk properly.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed out with joy and then literally leaping onto his bed causing him to wince in pain. "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, I ..." Harry held up a slightly shaking hand signaling for her to stop her ramblings.

"'Mione...Water..." It was then that Hermione realized her compromising position she was in. She was currently straddling his pelvis region.

With a Weasley-red blush, Hermione gave Harry a peck on the cheek and went over to Madam Pomfrey. No sooner than Hermione left had Madam Pomfrey come bustling into the room. Pulling out her wand, she checked and re-checked him. It did help that the patient was awake after all.

"Well Mr. Potter, it appears that you are in a clean bill of health with a few exceptions. You are quite seriously underweight, and you show signs of magical residue all over your body. Similar of that of the pain curses, but the most concentrated region is your head. I'll keep you in overnight to make sure you get a proper and decent meal in you and I'll just fetch a pain relieving potion for you. I might also insist that you sleep early tonight Mr. Potter." She was talking far to fast for Harry at the moment, though he got the main drift of it. She then made her way back to her office, obviously for the said potion and dinner.

"Hey mate." Ron said. It was surprisingly convincing, no pauses or hesitations, quite casual in fact.

"Hey" Harry croaked out again. He still hadn't had that glass of water. As if on cue, Hermione re-entered the infirmary carrying a jug of water, with a glass, a fairly large dinner and a steaming blue potion.

"Madam Pomfrey's gone to tell professor Dumbledore that you're up Harry; they should be back in a couple of minutes. The longer they take the better in my opinion, if it means for you not to be poked and prodded with a wand." Harry gave out a small laugh to Hermione's caring thought.

Hermione sat the tray down on Harry's lap, giving him the knife and fork. "Madam Pomfrey said you had to eat of that before you take the potion. Something about awful things happening to wizards and witches who had taken potions on an empty stomach." Harry gave a feeble smile and slowly began to eat. He didn't have much of an appetite at the moment, but there was no way he was going to disobey Madam Pomfrey. He had been in this very bed enough to know that she did what was best for him, and it had never lead him wrong.

For the following couple of minutes, Harry, Ron and Hermione talked. Harry was getting the low down of what had happened and what was going on and now knew quite a bit of information considering griffin breeding. Harry did notice, though told no-one, that all the information he had been told remained in his mind. All he had to do now was organize it all. Both Harry and Hermione noticed that when Hermione was talking, Ron was dozing off, not interested or even polite. _'Some friend he is.' _thought Harry and Hermione.

Ten minutes had passed before the grand oak doors of the infirmary swung open again, revealing both the headmaster and Madam Pomfrey. Harry could already tell he was going to be interrogated.

"Ahh, Harry. Glad to see you're awake at last. You had us all worried for quite some time you know." Dumbledore heard Harry mumble some sort of apology. "There is no need to apologise Harry. If we are to blame anyone then we should blame Voldemort." a small collection of gasps were heard from Ron and Madam Pomfrey. "For he was the one who ordered the attack and alas his fault for you getting struck with the late Mr. Malfoy's killing curse."

"Now then, there are some things that we need to discuss here and some we need to discuss in private." Harry gave the headmaster a nod allowing him to continue. "Firstly, your condition. You have been through a process called Cito..."

"Veneficus Subolesco." Harry finished the headmaster's sentence for him. "I know about that professor and all it entails, powers, the Merlin bit and all of the traits that come with it. When I was unconscious I met someone who helped me through it. He explained it and did what was needed for me to pull through it, what was needed for me to survive." Harry didn't think it wise to explain his ancestry right now. Perhaps when he had done more research on the rest of his family. Possibly then would he shock the world.

"Then you know that your magical reserves are almost limitless and therefore you will need to be trained to harness and control it. I suggest you restart Occlumency with professor Snape and me and some of the other staff will help you train in their specialized fields."

Harry's eyebrows rose, it was clear Harry was questioning Dumbledore's judgment. He could cope quite easily with the Hogwart's staff, with the exception of Snape, Trelawney and Binns. However, he would give it a go, if what Merlin had said was true then Snape would be getting some more '_Harry problems'_ than just in potions.

"Now the last thing that has to be discussed has to be done in private, either in my office or..." Dumbledore looked around the room. Everyone got the message loud and clear and made their way out of the infirmary. "Ms. Granger, you can stay for this, it does after all concern you as well." Dumbledore lowered his head to his eyes could look over his crescent shaped glasses. Hermione smiled and made her way back to Harry's bed. She sat on the side of the bed and took Harry's hand in hers. In both their views, the feeling felt so natural and complete.

As soon as the oak doors shut, Dumbledore waved his wand a couple of times. "The last matter we need to discuss is the _Last Will and Testament of Sirius Orion Black_." Harry suddenly went rigid "I know it's going to be hard for you Harry, after all, he was a father figure to you. Since we apprehended Mr. Pettigrew at Privet drive and questioned him under Veritaserum, the ministry could do nothing but make an official pardon to Sirius and release his Will. I do believe he also received some compensation from being in Azkaban for 12 years. It is currently in his vault I believe."

Harry grasped Hermione's hand slightly tighter, the memories slowly coming back.

"Now, onto slightly more pleasant matters, due to the fact it is still an fact the summer holidays, after you are out of bed Harry, you Hermione and the Weasley's will all be returning to Grimmauld Place." Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose truly showing that he was indeed an old man. "The reading will be in two days time. It will be read at Gringott's. Whilst we are in Diagon Alley, I think it would be wise to get your school supplies for your 6th year. Oh and before I forget, here are your O.W.L results. Mr. Weasley already has his." Dumbledore handed Harry and Hermione their envelopes sealed with the Hogwart's school crest. Harry's though was significantly thicker than Hermione's.

Hermione was breathing hard; she thought she would have been prepared for when the results came. But now face to face with them, she wasn't sure what to do.

"There's no need to worry 'Mione, I mean everyone knows you passed all of them with flying colors." Harry was trying to comfort her, and surprisingly doing quite a good job of it.

Hermione slowly broke the wax seal and pulled out the yellowing parchment.

_Ordinary Wizarding Level Results for Miss Hermione Emma Granger_

_Grades attainable: Outstanding (O, pass 2 OWLS), Exceeds Expectations (E, pass 1 OWL), Acceptable (A, pass 1/2 OWL)_

_Poor (P, fail), Dreadful (D, fail), Troll (T, fail)_

In alphabetic order:

Subject /Theory /Practical /Overall

Ancient Runes: O N/A O  
Astronomy: O E E  
Charms: O O O  
C.O.M.C: O E O  
D.A.D.A: O E O  
Flying: O A E  
Herbology: O E O  
History of Magic: O N/A O  
Muggle Studies: O N/A O  
Potions: O O O  
Transfiguration: O E O

Miss Granger, you have scored a total of 20 OWLS, congratulations. This is the highest score for this years OWLS. It is also the equal highest amount of OWLS attained, tying with Mrs. Lily Evans, now Potter.

_Yours sincerely, Miranda Marshbanks_

"Oh Harry, I did it, I passed everything. I got 20 OWLS. Thank you for helping me in defense." Hermione gave Harry the biggest hug he had ever received, except for Hagrid of course. "Go on, open yours, what did you get?" Hermione was almost giddy from the excitement.

Harry was feeling very anxious now, what if he had done incredibly bad, got less that 3 OWLS like Fred and George. Would he be allowed to continue potions? Harry broke the seal. Fiddling with the other bits of parchment _'Why have I got more than Hermione?' _he thought. Pulling the right piece out, Harry began to read.

_Ordinary Wizarding Level Results for Mr. Harry James Potter, Order of Merlin, 3rd class_

_Grades attainable: Outstanding (O, pass 2 OWLS), Exceeds Expectations (E, pass 1 OWL), Acceptable (A, pass 1/2 OWL)_

_Poor (P, fail), Dreadful (D, fail), Troll (T, fail)_

In alphabetic order:

Subject /Theory /Practical /Overall

Astronomy :E E E  
Charms : O O O  
C.O.M.C : O E O  
D.A.D.A : OO O  
Divination :E A A  
Flying : OO O  
Herbology :EO E  
History Of Magic :P N/A P  
Potions : OE O  
Transfiguration : OE O

Mr. Potter, you have scored 15 1/2 OWLS. You have also beaten the record of highest D.A.D.A score in known history. Previously attained by Cynthia Gryffindor in 1076 ad.

Harry was gobsmacked, not only had he done really well, but had attained a new record. ?'#.!# came to mind. He was still speechless when Hermione draped her hands around his shoulders and gave him another hug.

"Well done Harry, you did excellent. And we both broke or leveled with records. A task not sneered at."

Harry reached into the envelope pulling out one more piece of parchment. It read.

_Dear Mr. Potter_

_Due to recent circumstances of one of our prefects not attaining sufficient grades, and needing to concentrate more on his studies, it has been decided that you will be the new Gryffindor 6th year prefect. Do not take this position lightly; after all, the same could happen to you if your grades fall behind. Please tap the Hogwart's crest on the top of the page with your wand. It will make the prefect badge appear. _

_Well done for your new record._

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor_

As told, Harry tapped the crest wit his wand. As soon as the badge appeared, Hermione was all giddy again, saying how patrols weren't going to be boring now that they were with Harry. None of the quidditch stuff that Ron always talked about.

Previously, as Ron finished the extra note in his envelope. '_And now he's gone and stolen the prefect position off of me as well, bastard'_

* * *

That's it I'm afraid, watcha fink, good bad. 

Those who have reviewed thanks. Do like good reviews. I can't reply reviews in bulk on story page 'cos summit to do with terms and agreements or summit. Anyway, cheers who did.

REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS

Until next time

Polymagus


	5. Lots of Developments

Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the plot, and even that has had some external influences. JKR owns the lot, lucky woman...

Chapter 5:

Harry, Hermione, the Weasley family (excluding Percy, Bill and Charlie) and Dumbledore were all in the headmaster's office. Fawkes was present, comforting everyone. The phoenix was currently in his prime, his burning day had passed a week ago and his red and gold feather plumage glittered spectacularly in the sunlight.

They were all in Dumbledore's office to take a portkey to Grimmauld Place. Harry was chatting with Hermione about the many items in Dumbledore's office considering it was her first time to examine them. It was like Hermione had suddenly taken on the knowledge of myth and legends about the objects in the office. The conversations that Harry was able to participate in however were the ones that he had come into contact with at least once in his life, the sorting hat, Gryffindor's sword and Fawkes. However, Harry didn't get to talk much considering that most of the conversation was about the many silver instruments scattered on the shelves of the headmaster's office. Harry absorbed the information like a sponge to water; he had so much spare room to memorize things that even if he heard it he remembered it. From what he had been told by Hermione, there were silver instruments to show family lines, your current health, medieval wand creators and the like. It was all very interesting.

Harry looked to Fawkes who gave him a soothing trill. After all, his history with portkeys wasn't exactly what someone could call leisurely. The worst of all being the portkey cup in the third task of the Tri-Wizard-Tournament and Voldemort's resurrection. Harry turned his gaze to the cherished, ruby encrusted sword. The sun caught it in such a way that that it seem that light was emitting from the ruby, spraying a splash of deep blood red on the wall behind it. His attention turned towards the sorting hat, it was then that Harry felt a slight probing on his mind. He knew it wasn't Dumbledore because he was currently talking with Molly and Arthur about the wards around the burrow and when they would be finished.

It was then that he realized that the hat must be doing it, how else could it sort if it couldn't read minds. _'Hey, what do you think your doing?' _Harry thought. By the expression of the hat, Harry realized that the hat had indeed heard his thought.

_'Ahh yes, Mr. Potter, my hardest sortie to date.' _Harry gave the hat a questionable look._' But I see now that you were truly suited for Gryffindor, it became true on your 60th season' _Another confused look on Harry's face appeared. _'When you turned 15 my boy, 15. Alas, I see something different about you now. What could it be? Surely not, I wouldn't have thought it. How is that possible? The Aurelian line diminished half my enchanted life ago. But there's more, yes, plenty more. It is still a secret to even you then. I think it is time that you truly learn who you are.'_

_'What do you mean, I know I'm the heir to Merlin on my mother's side' _Harry replied

_'My boy, Ambrosius Emrys was the Aurelian line. However, your mother's side is not your father's side now is it.'_ Harry gave the sorting hat an inquisitive look, furrowing his eyebrows in the process. '_So what I say is true, you do not know the full extent of your heritage.'_ If hats could smirk, this one would have done so many times by now _'Time for you to find out then'_ the sorting hats thoughts stopped dead, Harry tried to answer, but he wasn't getting a response.

The sorting hat started to glow, a golden glow making it look as if it was covered in an outline of gold. It started levitating in the direction of the Sword of Gryffindor, as it got closer, the glow got brighter. It attracted everyone's attention in that room, even the portraits looked on in amazement. The empty frames now packed with old headmasters and headmistresses.

The ancient hat was now comfortably next to the glass frame around the sword in question. The hat bent its tip so that it touched the glass case. A blue light surrounded it, and was forced out of the tip of the hat. Instantly, the glass case vanished, leaving behind a very prone sword. As it had just done, it bent the tip of itself to the ruby of the sword.

Upon contact, the ruby glistened. Silence ruled. Everyone was staring in amazement at the two artifacts.

"We artifacts of the brave and pure lord call upon Hogwart's to give the heir recognition and to return what is rightfully his." the sorting hat boomed out loud, unlike any voice it had been known to use before.

If you were just exiting the Forbidden Forest and looked up to the castle, like our favorite half-giant was, on the east wing, the turrets and building could been seen as glowing Gryffindor red. _'Now what could that be?'_ thought Hagrid.

The sorting hat then retouched to ruby with the tip of itself. It was as if all the light surrounding the east wing had formulated in the ruby. The light shot out of the ruby, a column of red light stricking Harry in the chest.

Harry instantly fell to the floor in pain, '_Haven't I been through enough already, I'm not even 16.'_

"Harry!" screeched Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Hermione. Hermione was trying to fight against Ron's grip to reach Harry.

As quickly as the light struck him, it all absorbed into his body. The remaining light that was in the ruby split in two. A part of it remaining in the sword and the other half traveling into the hat's brim-like-mouth.

"What in Merlin's name just happened?" Ron questioned. Everyone turned to Dumbledore, and for once they met a dumbstruck headmaster.

"Harry?" Dumbledore was obviously using Legilemcy.

"Honestly professor, I really don't know what just happened." Harry's face was in the same state as everyone else's; worried, curious and most of all confused.

"Well, I think it's best that we get to Grimmauld Place, before any other odd occurrences happen" Dumbledore picked up an empty bottle of Rosmerta's Finest Mead, muttered "Portus".

Everybody grabbed hold of the bottle, excluding Dumbledore. "1...2..."

'_Investigate your father's heritage my lord, I think the Black library will be sufficient enough to allow you to get the answers you want'_

...3" Harry felt the familiar tug behind his navel and then they were gone

With a bit a of a thud, Harry, Hermione, Ron , Ginny and the twins landed roughly in a disused park. A couple of seconds later, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arrived unharmed and cautious.

"Come on, come on. We don't want to be hanging around outside for too long." Everyone got up and followed the adults through the park out onto a typical London road. Crisp packets and cans littering the street, stereo's booming out of the open windows. After a couple of minutes walking, the group arrived outside number 11 and number 13, no number 12 in site.

Mr. Weasley turned to the group "Just remember what that slip of parchment said last year."

Harry concentrated hard _'The Order of the Phoenix headquarters can be found at number 12 Grimmauld place'_ Harry looked up to see a new oak wooden door meeting his eye.

Opening up the door and stepping into the home it took Harry a couple of seconds to realize that this wasn't the house he remembered. It didn't have the dark greens and silvers that yelled Slytherin. It was; there was no other way to say it, more homely. The troll umbrella stand wasn't in sight, instead had been replaced by a handsome coat hanger. However, the curtains were still there, old and mistreated covering the cruel and malicious Mrs. Black.

"Keep quite and go up to your rooms you were in last time, all of your things have been put in there by Dobby and Winky. If you could stay up there until one of us comes and calls you. There's a rather important meeting taking place in about half hour. Just...keep yourself occupied." Mrs. Weasley whispered as to not disturb the ancient hag.

Harry and the rest of the group made their way towards the stairs. There was no arguments, no '_But mum'_s. It was all going so well until Ginny tripped on the bottom stair. In an instant the curtains flung themselves open, revealing Mrs. Black.

"Scum of the earth, blood traitors all of you, and that mutt, where is he, and some not even of wizarding blood. Filth, dirt, scums" Mrs. Black shrieked. Harry had had enough, she wasn't going to insult anyone, let alone Sirius in front of him. Turning around he jumped a few steps. Walking over to the portrait, he stared right into her eyes as she carried on ranting.

Mrs. Black immediately stopped; the boy in front of her was so much like that brat her disowned son bought back sometimes. But he was different, those eyes were frightening. Harry's eyes were now glowing gold again, the power radiating off of him in waves causing the others to retreat to the walls.

"I don't want to hear another word out of you, you have done nothing but cause us aggravation, and the '_mutt'_ you speak of and that '_brat' _are both dead. Yes, Sirius is dead, he died last year. And don't you ever say my father was a brat. How dare you speak of them in that way. You worthless piece of fabric" Harry's voice boomed. Everyone was silent, though a wind of no origin was picking up, circling around Harry, his messing black hair going insane by it. However, it was only affecting him.

"No, no, no, no. The most Ancient and Noble House of Black always has a blood heir, he can't be dead." Tears had started to form in her eyes. Not from the loss of Sirius, but of the fact that her bloodline of heirs had stopped. "Filth! Scum of the earth, he always was. There's nothing else I can do now. My last resort" The painting seemed to leap from the wall, a layer of dust falling to the floor in the process. As if by magic, (:p) the painting caught alight in the very centre. The flames reached out to the very corners of the frame, burning into ashes.

The portrait was certainly not there anymore.

Harry's eyes were still emitting the raw magic when he turned around to the group cowering against the walls and staircase. What they saw awed them and scared them to say the least. No-one in that hallway, heck in that house had seen power this strong before.

As Harry's eyes slowly turned back to his mother's emerald green, the group slowly recuperated from what they had seen. Had Harry just used pure magic? Not even Dumbledore could make his eyes glow; he could only manage his twinkle.

What Harry didn't expect though, was when a mahogany door appeared where the damned portrait used to be.

"Umm, where'd that door come from?" Harry asked.

"I think Harry, that after you're, umm, burst, that you may be seeing things. There's no door." Ron stated, it seemed to him that he had got one over his 'best mate'. _'Hopefully he's going crazy.'_ Ron thought. No-one thought to disagree; no-one had seen a door. Let alone one that had just appeared.

"Well, come on, come on, get up to your rooms, the meetings about to start now, and I don't think it wise for you to be around here. Especially after what just happened, I'm wouldn't be surprised if you broke the silencing charm on the meeting room with that outburst Harry" Mrs. Weasley practically pushed them onto the staircase, the creaks and groans of the boards evident.

Once they were departed, Harry went with Hermione. Harry had plans to tell her some of the things that he had seen. He got a feeling that at the moment; only her and a few more select few would believe him. Ginny went to talk with Ron; she had been trying to persuade him to trade his Guildaston card for her Agrippa card. It took a couple of hours. But once Mrs. Weasley checked both doors with her ear, she knew they had fallen asleep from the very tiring day. The evening turned into midnight, no-one was awake. No alarms went off. It was a very rare peaceful night.

However, in one of the rooms, a not-so-bushy-anymore haired girl was wrapped around her favorite thing. More precious than any book, a certain raven haired boy. No-one thought to question it later on.

For the first time since Harry could remember, he had slept peacefully. He didn't know why, but he just had. As he slowly became conscious again, and feeling started to appear over his body, he realized he was holding onto something very soft, and comfortable. On part of his arms it felt like water in a fabric. As hard as he wanted to get up, he felt much better where he was. He knew he hadn't imagined that door, his mind could see it now.

Realizing that he was still in bed with his 'possession', Harry slowly opened his eyes. What met him was unexpected, but certainly a nice view in the morning. He was staring at Hermione, who was still sleeping peacefully, undisturbed by Harry's arms around her. For the first time since, well he couldn't remember the last time he smiled so much. He was so close to her face that he could see each and every eyelash. What he didn't expect though was for those eyelashes to rise, opening up to reveal the most warmly and caring eyes he had ever seen. The chocolate depths would have kept Harry in limbo if it was not for the awkward 'get away and act as if nothing happened' leap away from each other.

"Hi." Hermione's voice was timid, but so soothing to hear first thing in the morning. Certainly a pleasured, not a forced smile appeared on Harry's face.

"Hey." Harry replied. Hermione was once again Weasley-red. Her high cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Umm, Harry, we didn't like, you know, like, umm...did we?" Harry's mind was reeling, was Hermione asking if... no, certainly not.

"What would happen if I say yes?" Hermione's eyes bulged. "Well, umm, I guess I would have to give you a slap first" she said teasingly "then forgive you and return to bed." If an answer Harry was expecting, it certainly wasn't that one. "No Hermione, nothing did happen, though the latter idea does sound good to me."

"Don't be so silly Harry, I was only joking" It wasn't said in a very convincing way, both Harry and Hermione knew it. "After all, we have to get ready for Diagon Alley. School supplies and well, you know"

It hit Harry like a brick; he hadn't remembered it was the reading of Sirius' Will today. He was too caught up in what was in front of him. And that was something that could make you forget about things quite easily.

"Hermione?" "Yes." She was facing the floor, trying to hide her embarrassment as much as possible.

"Come here for a second would you." Hermione slowly made her way round the four poster bed standing before Harry, who was from what she could tell five inches taller than her. It made her feel protected when she was next to Harry like this. She so small compared to him. The same could be said about Harry. Deep down he found that he loved it when Hermione was by him. Towering over her, looking strong and brave.

Hermione looked up to meet his eyes, those emerald spirals. Though something was different. _'Oh my god, his eyes, they've got golden sparks going off in them.' _If she showed hock, she hid it brilliantly.

_'She's so beautiful' _Hermione was at a loss as to what to do.

Harry tilted his head to the side and slowly made his way forward to Hermione. He reached his hand to cup her face. Stopping a short distance before their lips met as to make sure she felt the same way. Hermione clearly did when she moved forward to meet Harry. Their first kiss. _'This is heaven' Harry_ placed his arms round her waist, accidentally pulling up her pink silk nightdress at the same time revealing in the mirror behind an undergarment, well, there wasn't much material so it couldn't really be called that.

It was then that they broke. Hermione was in disarray, Harry was gobsmacked, and someone loved him that was still alive.

If Hermione was red before, she was about to explode now.

"Hermione,"

"Mmmhmmm?" Hermione replied

"Would you...like umm. I mean do you..."

"Yes Harry, I'd love to go out with you." _'YES YES YES YES YES YES!' _was the only thought going through their minds. Each had found each other.

Capturing another kiss before Harry made his was back to Ron's room as to not rouse too much suspicion. He swore he saw Hermione's back revealed when he thought she saw her drop her short silk nightdress in a glass reflection.

Back in Hermione's room she was laying on the bed thinking over the last few minutes _'And about time to. I haven't been giving off signals for the past two years for nothing'_

I'm just a big tease aren't I. Well that's that bit sorted out. Hope you liked, any REVIEWS?

Well, please, I do like reviews, makes me want to write more.

Yes it is going to be H/Hr all the way through, though they may fall out at one point. Just throw ideas my way, weather story plot, or relationship one. What ova ships?

Till next time (The will, may not be that title, but it is Diagon Alley and Gringott's etc)

Polymagus


	6. In The Eye Of The Dragon

Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the plot, and even that has had some external influences. JKR owns the lot, lucky woman...

Chapter 6:

Harry had reached the kitchen to have his breakfast earlier than Hermione had, his girlfriend. '_That sounds so good' _he thought. Harry could already tell that today was going to be an exceptionally long day; memories were going to be bought to the surface and emotions would run high. It was an early start for the young man, not one of his earliest, but after being 'knocked out' for a week and a half it felt as if he had gotten up in the middle of the night, the shower he had did help him to wake up though.

The only other early risers were the ones who were to be at the reading. Ron and the Weasley's were going to meet them later to get their school things and purchases. Tonks sat opposite him with Remus by her side. He was mumbling something about how Sirius would have left him something and he would have to get new things now.

To Harry's surprise Dobby was in the house, serving everyone their breakfast and cleaning last nights dishes. Upon questioning Dobby, he learnt that Winky was at Hogwart's preparing the castle; after all, it was spectacularly huge.

The door opened up from the hallway revealing a very elegant Hermione. Her hair was straighter than Harry had remembered and her body certainly wasn't that curved last year. Once Harry thought about it, he realized that without the black Hogwarts cloak and robes Hermione had a figure. And a damn nice one as well.

"Morning Hermione/'Mione" was called from the three individual people. Harry going with the shortened 'Mione. It was more personal.

"Morning" she replied and sat down next to Harry." When are we leaving professor?" Hermione asked Remus.

"Now Hermione, this applies to you as well Harry. I haven't been your professor since your third year, what makes you think I'm a professor now, please call me Remus or Moony. Whatever suits you. And the answer to your question is shortly."

As if on cue, the front door opened and footsteps were heard heading towards them. As the kitchen door swung open, it revealed a very muggle-looking Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Ahh, good to see everyone's ready. Can't waste time, especially under the current circumstances." If that was Kinsley's greeting then it wasn't a very good one. "There's a muggle taxi outside that I've expanded for you. Don't worry, I'll be driving." He said after he registered the confused look upon the younger two's faces.

Hermione grabbed a piece of toast and Harry's hand and pulled him up off of his chair, walking out to the muggle car, Tonks and Remus not far behind, both with a muffin in hand.

* * *

It had just gone nine o'clock when they pulled up to the Leaky Cauldron. The journey had been a pleasant one. The car had been expanded so that there were two double seats separate from one another. This didn't receive any complaints from anyone, especially the newly formed couple. Getting out of the car, Harry took Hermione's hand and led her to the wizarding pub.

The Leaky Cauldron was as Harry had always remembered it. Dim but cheerful, dark and musty, but homely in a weird sort of way. As they made their way through to the back door Tom the Innkeeper gave them a small nod, his hand pulling his sagging top hat down slightly in recognition.

There seemed to be a lot more protection around than the previous times he had been here. _'Only_ _one answer for that one'._ Harry accidentally saw Mad-eye underneath a tattered old cloak drinking what could only be firewhisky out of his hip flask. As they gathered in the small area where Tom kept the spare barrels of drink, Kinglsey withdrew his wand and tapped the correct bricks in the right order. It never ceased to amaze Harry having the bricks move apart to form a brick archway into the popular alley, this time however was different. When the bricks moved Harry saw strands of colors moving with them. Ignoring this revelation for now because of his mood, Kingsley led the group into Diagon Alley. What amazed Harry the most was when he entered the alley and noticed that it wasn't packed as it usually would. _'Must be the threat of Voldemort, oh, and the fact that no-ones received there book list's yet' _Harry thought, feeling a bit stupid for taking a long time to figure it out.

There were a few early risers however. Mostly mothers or old witches out to shop for their vegetables and potion ingredients. But no children were running around freely without a care in the world, no groups of teen witches talking about the latest gowns and certainly no quidditch obsessed boys drooling over the firebolt on display. It seemed to Harry that the Alley reflected his current mood. Still the same old Alley, but inside it was a totally different story.

Throughout all of his thought's Harry hadn't realized that they were now standing outside the doors to Gringotts.

"I'm going to wait out here for you, o.k. You will be fine, the goblins may be vicious, but they certainly know how to protect their customers. Remus and Tonks will watch out for anything out of the ordinary." He said the last sentence looking at Harry and Hermione. All he got in return was a simple nod. The four entered the goblin's bank, Harry of course getting more nervous by the second.

Remus led them over to a goblin that Harry immediately recognized as Griphook. The goblin that first took him to his vault in his summer leading to his first year at Hogwarts.

"Hello Griphook." Harry said, when the goblin looked up from his paperwork to see who had called him, he was astonished to see a much older Mr. Potter than he had first seen.

"And greetings to you Mr. Potter. I am almost in a state of shock." The entire group gave him a questioning look. "Every witch and wizard that I have done business with on numerous occasions has forgotten my name, not even recognizing. It is a very rare pleasure that a human like yourself remembers a goblin like me, when we are seen as inferior to your race."

"Then the pleasure is all mine, Griphook." it was a very scary sight to see a goblin truly smile. It was usually only seen when they had done something great for the bank, or had been sneaky.

"Well then, I take it you and your friends are here for a Will reading, am I correct Mr. Potter?" Harry didn't trust himself to talk when the Will was mentioned; he was worried he would break down. Instead it was Remus who answered. "Yes, could you show us the way to where the reading is going to take place, it should be starting soon."

"Right this way." The goblin got off of his stool, and slipped round his 'desk'. He began to walk to the far end of the large entrance hall to where the carts were. However, just before they arrived at the carts, they took a left down a very dusty and tall passage lit by torches hanging off the walls.

They continued walking for a minute or so until they reached a pair of grand ebony doors, carved with mythical creatures and people unrecognizable to the human eye. Pushing the doors open, Griphook led them into a circular room, at the centre a superior looking goblin awaited.

"Graylags sir, may I introduce Mr. Potter and his friends, they are hear for the reading." The goblin Graylags ears seemed to pick up the famous name and immediately took attention. This annoyed Harry quite a lot, particularly because the goblin only paid attention to his status, and not the fact that they were a dead man's friends.

"I have been waiting for you Mr. Potter for quite some time, there are some things we need to discuss other than the will of one Sirius Orion Black today. But please, in the mean time, take a seat. I do believe we are only waiting for Fred and George Weasley. They sent an owl on previously saying that they were just checking their shops progress in the Alley." It was perfect timing, the red headed twins strode into the room, their freckles prominent from the summer sun. Their faces though, a totally different scene. Sad and solemn were the best way to describe the twin's faces.

"Ahh good, now that were all here, we can begin. Griphook, would you mind to stand outside and make sure no-one else enters until we are finished." "Yes sir."

Griphook left without question, closed the doors behind him, a layer of dust falling from the door when they clicked in place.

Turning to each person in turn he said "We are here today for the reading of a will concerning one Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Nymphadora Tonks, Fred Weasley, George Weasley and Hermione Granger from one Sirius Orion Black"

The goblin broke the seal of an envolope that had just appeared on the centre table. It was clear to everyone that what he had just said had made the envelope appear. Pulling out a yellowing piece of parchment, unfolding it, revealing a very tidy calligraphy style document.

The goblin waved his hand over the parchment and placed it flat on the table. A second later a holographic like thing appeared. It looked more like a small version of a poltergeist in Sirius' body. The fake Sirius began to talk.

"I Sirius Orion Black, being of sound body and mind declare my last will and testament of my assets." He had stood up straight at that bit, looking as if he was being expected by someone. He gave out a sigh and continued. "Right, now that that legal malarkey is out of the way I can talk to you. I'm sort of like a pensieve memory crossed with a painting. I have some response to you, but I do have my limits." Harry eyes were beginning to well up from seeing his deceased Godfather. Hermione noticing this took his hand and gently squeezed it.

"Now I would love to say I died heroically or jumped in front of a killing curse to save someone or something, but me being me, I take it that I did something stupid, though by the expression on your face Harry I can tell that I died trying to save you. And that is the only way I would have wanted to go in this war. Don't go blaming yourself. I died protecting you. If anyone is to blame, blame it on Voldemort." Remus, Tonks and the Weasley twins winced at his name. "Oh get over it." Harry nodded his head. If it had come from Sirius then no way was he going to blame himself.

"Anyway, I think its best that we get onto the whole 'who's going to get what bit' don't you think. First and foremost you must understand the terms of walking through those doors. Once you walked through them, you immediately accepted anything and everything given to you, whether you like it or not. I know to some that is going to be harder than others. That is the whole reason I asked for it to happen. The next thing you must know is that the Black family fortune is as said, a fortune. The last time I checked it was just over two-hundred and thirty nine million Galleons, with a few Knuts and Sickles here and there. There is a reason it is called the most ancient and noble house of Black. The money has been there since before the founders, though I know that we were the noir family back then."

"Firstly, to my favorite second-cousin, Tonks. I am giving you five million galleons. Get yourself some proper defense books to read, after all, you do want that promotion at work don't you." Tonks nodded her head; there was a layer of water over her eyes, glistening in the light. "Oh, and do everyone a favour and get a certain wolf already."

The projection turned towards Remus. "Remus... Moony, I am leaving you various things. There are a few things in the attic of Grimmauld place that I'm leaving to you. There has also been a vault created for you containing forty million galleons. Get yourself some new robes for heavens sake. Don't get yourself down over your 'furry little problem'. And everyone knows that a certain witch beside you cares for you deeply so be the wolf for once and be upfront. I am also leaving you part ownership of Grimmauld place. I only ask you that it continue to be kept as headquarters until the war is over. Then turn it into a house for a pack of cubs."

"Hermione, our loving know-it-all." It wasn't said in a mean way like Snape used it, but loving and caring. "I see that you finally got what you want more than books." he nodded his head towards her hand, clasping Harry's. She gave a heart felt grin at the gesture." But I'm afraid that I cannot give you want you want most seeming as you've already got it. However, I am leaving you with a ten thousand galleon tab at flourish and blotts, and a collection of books from the Black library. They are in a trunk on your right as you walk into the library. Don't worry, there's nothing harmful in the library anymore, I made sure of that. All cursed books are de-cursed or have been burnt." He said after seeing her worried look plastered onto her face. He turned his attention to the Weasley twins.

"I know Harry gave you his Tri Wizard tournament gold, "Harry received a glare from Hermione "but I am leaving you another fifty thousand galleons for research and the like. I'm not sure if you have figured it out by now, seeming as I have bought up two of their names, but when I was at school there was a group called the Marauders. Padfoot, Prongs and Moony and Wormtail, the last is no longer a true Marauder. They were I, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Padfoot because I had a dog animagus form, James' was a stag and Peter's was a rat, how true. Remus is a werewolf, thus Moony. I have left two a book written by us, full of all the pranks we pulled and spells we created. There's some stuff that I have taken out, that is going to Harry, but most of it is all there."

The Weasley twins were gobsmacked; they now had the funds to finish their work, plus tips from the legendary marauders.

"Now finally to Harry, I know this is all hard on you, but believe me when I say it will get easier, after all, you have found love, a very rare thing at your age. The only other I know of were Lily and James, and even they didn't find it until their seventh year." Harry's eyes were positively leaking now, tears streaming down his face, falling onto Hermione's hand. What no-one noticed was the small cut on her hand healed upon contact.

"Now listen carefully, I am leaving the rest to you, that's the other half of the ownership of Grimmauld place, all of the rest of the gold and the artifacts in the Black family vault. The other things I mentioned before like the few things of the Marauders are all in my room and a large trunk that can only be opened by you. You are a very rich wizard now Harry. Along with the Potter family vault, you and twenty generations of Potter's wouldn't have to work a day of their lives. Apart from at Hogwart's of course."

"Potter family vault, you mean the one I go to?" it was the goblin that interrupted this time.

"No Mr. Potter that was only your trust fund for school, your family vault is one of the oldest and respected light bloodlines today. What you have seen is only a very small portion of what is rightfully yours."

"I don't want you to become snobbish and boastful Harry, you're not like that. Use it how you want but do remember that not all things are needed. Most things are wanted. However, when I say that, a few wants do do the persons happiness wonders sometimes." Sirius said. "I've finished now, I'll see you all soon, though not too soon o.k. I don't want anyone here to die, least of you Harry. Oh, just before I forget, there's one more thing that I've done for you Harry. It had been agreed since the day you were born. If your parents and I were to die, then the wizarding laws are to make you emancipated. You are legally an adult in the eye of the ministry. They see you as if you were seventeen Harry to put it in simpler terms. Just don't forget Remus is there to talk, after all, he is the only true link to your parents left." Sirius' hologram faded from view, the document folded itself up and sealed itself in the envelope.

"Goodbye Sirius." Harry muttered under his breath

Graylags handed Remus the envelope.

"Mr. Potter, there are a few things you need to sign, concerning your parents assets and last wishes. I see no reason as to why you cannot do it here, so please if you would." The goblin handed Harry a document, almost smelling of magic. "It is a magical contract saying that you have read the above and agree to it."

Harry read through the document rather fast, absorbing the information with ease. It had basically said that he was now the head of the Potter and Black houses and that he was emancipated. He also declared that all of his assets he had received and had be moved to a much larger and higher security vault, complete with it's own dragon. A Welsh short-snout at that, and given Harry's experience with four types of Dragon, he knew that they, along with the horntail were well known for the spell resistant scales and loyalty to what they guarded. In the eye of the dragon, the vault would be like its favorite egg.

* * *

I'll cut it off there; I didn't realize how long this chapter would be. I could have added at least another 2000 words. But I'll put that in chapter 7; after all, it's his shopping spree and a run in with Ollivander, oooh. Will be good bit. Special wand etc, yay. Hope you liked it

REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS

Until next time, which should be pretty soon

Polymagus


	7. Everything You Could Want

Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the plot, and even that has had some external influences. JKR Owns the lot, lucky woman... 

_S" gobbledeygook "S _parseltongue

Chapter 7:

Harry and the others made their way back to the foyer, led by Griphook once more. Harry was mentally fighting himself over the joy of being legally made an adult, or the fact that he didn't have Sirius to be his gaurdian any more. Both points have their ups and downs, their pros and cons. But given the current circumstances, Harry was overjoyed to be able to do magic outside of Hogwarts a year early.

"Right then, I suppose it's time to do your school shopping, here's both of your book lists, curtosy of the headmaster." Remus handed Harry and Hermione an envolope each, sealed with a wax hogwarts crest.

"Me, Tonks and Kingsley will be in the Leaky Cauldron, if theres any problems at all, one of you come to find us o.k."

"Well, I suppose we'll see you in a couple of hours then." Harry replied. Fred and George had already gone off to their shop to arrange some major adjustments to the layout due to their new found mini fortune. Tonks and Remus walked off hand in hand, Kingsley following just behind, leaving Harry and Hermione to their own devices.

"Well I need to go to my vault first, get some money and find out exactly what Sirius has left me. And then we can get on to the fun bit." Taking her hand, Harry led Hermione back over to Griphook.

"Hello again, I would like to make a withdrawal from my vault please." Harry said to the familiar goblin.

"Certainly Mr. Potter, if you would follow me. I take it that you will require a two seater cart?" Harry nodded. Getting no response out of the goblin, they continued to follow him until they reached the carts. Harry took his seat first, then Hermione did something unexcpected, she didn't take her seat but sat on Harry's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, whilst Harry, recieving the message, wrapped his hands around her waist.

With a sudden jolt, the cart was off, twisting and turning, dropping and rising every so often. Neither Harry nor Hermione felt any of them however, they were just staring at eachother, totally ignoring the rollercoaster journey that they were on.

The only time that they were interupted was when the cart came to a stop, the jolt just enough to signal that they were there. Coming out of their trance like state, they found that they were outside vault number seven. Griphook departed the cart and stood on the platform, he then stood next to the door, and traced a very thin finger down a crevice near the bottom of the doors.

It had acted like a swipe card, a pedastalhad risen from the groundin the centre of the platform. A golden cup, engraved with the Potter Family crest standing proud on top of it. By this time, Hary and Hermione's mouths were open, trying to reach the floor. They were standing at what could only be the very foundations of Gringotts bank.

"Mr. Potter, if you could be so kind as to prick your right index figner and allow a drop of blood to enter the goblet." Harry didn't like the idea of blood in any magical object. Seeing the young man's worry the goblin exlpained. "There is no need to worry sir, it is simply a very advanced key to your vault. It only allows those of Potter blood, or spouses of Potter blood to open the doors. Once you have done so, the next time you visit, all you will need to do is to swipe your finger, the way I did to gain acces to your vault."

Hesitantly, Harry picked up the silver knife, and gently pricked his index finger. Immediately a single drop of blood splashed into the goblet. It glowed red for a second, and then returned to gold. The large doors opened up, revealing a very large dark room.

Harry placed the knife back on the pedastal, Griphook then passed his hand over Harry's. The small incision healed, leaving no sign of it ever being cut.

Harry took Hermione's hand and carefully entered the vault. As soon as he had placed one toe over the doorway, torches lit up, revealing what looked to be a never ending series of passages and rooms.

There was masses of piles of gold, enough sickles to fill the Burrow and so many knuts. There were artifacts; swords, staffs, blades, daggers and many other weaponslining one wall. A cabinet full of magical objects, each labeled with it's name and description of what it does. There was a pensieve, an array of wands, a silver raven claw, crafted by Lady Ravenclaw herself. What surprised him the most however was a golden and red box, supposedly containing Gryffindor's amulet, crafted by Merlin. The amulet was meant to allow the wearer to have the ability of beast speak. Once wearing the amulet, it allowed the wearer to talk with the animals, whether Harry was talking or whether the animal was talking to Harry. Upon inspection of the amulet, Hermione gasped.

"Harry, that was meant to have been destroyed in the reign of Grindewald, do you know how much that thing would be. It's priceless. And, oh, the actual 'Raven Claw'," she read "it allows the owner to transform into any type of eagle at will, much like an animagus. However, an animagus can still own this and transform into the other creatures."

Towards the end of Hermione's babbling, Harry had let go of her hand, and had started to drift over to a wall of paintings. On in particular caught his attention. There in a frame encarved with a lion, a badger, a eagle, and a basilisk was the four founders. Standing proud.

Once the light of the torch had caught Harry's face, the occupants of the painting turned towards a dumbstruck looking boy, gawking at them.

"Hello their dear boy, can we be of some service to you at all? It would certainly be our pleasure after being in the dark for over half a century." Godric said.

"Umm..well...you see... the fact of the matter is...oh, HERMIONE!" Harry called out "She can explain it better than I can."

"Yes Harry, what have you done now..." She stopped dead. her eyes must have been playing tricks on her, there was no way that she was seeing what she was seeing, after all there had been no records of ever such a magical painting existing.

Composing herself, Hermione began to talk. "Hello there,umm...well you see, theres a slight problem. Never in recorded history has a picture of any one of you been said to exist, and yet here you are, not one, but all four of you."

"Well my dear, let it be my pleasure to tell you that it was a lie." Lady Hufflepuff said.

"How's the school doing? Are you student at Hogwarts?" Godric interupted

Harry answered this time."Fine and yes are your answers to that. If i am allowed, would it be possible to take you to Hogwarts. I think that it would be a lot nicer than being here. You can talk to other portraits and everything."

"Please do, I think if i spent one more day with these three I would go completely insane." The words practically slithered off of his tongue.

Harry smirked, he knew this would make Salazar Slytherin jump.

_S" Hello Slytherin, how nice to see you. I take it that you understand me? "S_ and shocked Slytherin only nodded. _S"Well then, you will not talk that way to your friends. It is a fate worse than you will ever imagine if you do. "S_

"You speak the snake language?" Rowena asked, somewhat shocked though.

"Yes, and I see no reason why any of you should judge me by it. I am, after all, in Gryffindor. So, can I take you to Hogwarts? I know a perfect spot in the entrance hall that I can hang you. It'll give the school some pride to be able to see the founders." Harry quickly changed the subject. his ability to talk to snakes always made him uncomfortable.

Gobsmacked into an answer they all agreed. "Good. I'm going to shrink you, then when I can hang you up, I will return you back to your normal size.

After shrinking the portrait, Harry placed it in his pocket. 'T_hat's enough exploring for one day' _he thought.

Taking five bags full to the brim with galleons and sickles he walked towards the exit. Quickly doubling back, he picked up the Gryffindor's amulet and placed it over his head. New information stormed his brain, languages long forgotten on the tip of his tongue. But Harry took it all in none the less, no challenge now to the Gryffindor golden boy. Taking Herimone's hand once more, they finally left, without properly exploring the other rooms. There was too much to explore in a year, let alone a quick trip to Gringotts.

* * *

First of all, Harry and Hermione stopped of at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harry had outgrown his and Hermione's robes. Well, she hadn't outgrown the, vertically, more needed extra chest room.

It was a quick stop. Having been measured and fitted, they were to pick them up in about an hour or so. Figuring it would be easier to collect them just before they left, he told madam malkin that they would be there in two.

The next stop had Hermione all giddy. She had been saving up some of her money so that she could get a few extra books. But now that she had that huge tab, she was practically like a dog, ready to be taken on a walk. Pulling on Harry's arm, urging him to hurry up.

"Hermione, we don't even know what books we are getting." Harry said in desperation, his arm was starting to ache after all.

Hermione literally ripped open her book list. She could take any course that she wanted, whether they be curriculum or extra private study.

_Book list for Hogwarts Sixth years, every subject is listed. Please only buy the books for the subjects you wish to take or learn._

_The Standard Book Of Spells : Grade 6 by **Miranda Gowshawk **_

_Numerology and Gramatica : The Next Step by** Gillian Vector **_

_Advanced Runes and Rune Breaking by **Judika Illes **_

_Reading the Stars by **Albertus Magnus **_

_Charming Your Way Into The World by **Kristine Porter **_

_The Most Olde And Magical Creatures by **Jaden Skye **_

_Duelling With Duellers by **Filius Flitwick **_

_Grey Magic: Not Just Black And White by **Augustine Metyr **_

_The Most Famous And Gore Battles In Time by **Helios Listorire **_

_Muggles: How Do They Do It? by **Arabella Figg **_

_Advanced Potion making by **Libatuis Borage **_

_Human Transfiguration – Everything A Wizard/Witch Needs To Know by **Hans Anderson**_

"I know now Harry, so come on!" She led the way into flourish and blotts.

Harry had never really had time to think over his reading abilities. He knew he could read the books and know them, but he also knew that what was in a book wasn't always the best way.

In the end, Harry paid for all of the books on the book list. He even bought all the books on the subjects that he hadn't taken for O.W.L's _'I mean what's the point if I can know it, and not have the grades for them.'_There was however, three books he bought that had nothing to do with school. He bought three books specialising in Occlumency and Legilemcy. Harry had to pay extra for the store owner to keep his mouth shut that he had bought what was thought to be dark arts books. If Hermione was surprised to see Harry carrying all of the bags with his books in, then it was an understatement. She had purchased her curricular books, but had also bought quite a few extras books, including some on wizarding traditions and books about famous wizard and witches. Generally it was those that appeared on Chocolate Frog Cards. By the end of their book hunt, Harry and Hermione could have quite easily started their own library.

After they had stocked up on their potions ingredients and had gotten some owl and cat treats, Harry wanted to go to Ollivanders to get some wand polish and a wand holster, and to perhaps see if their was any solution to _Priori Incantatem_. Hermione had said that she would go pick up their robes. It would make the trip finish earlier.

Just before he entered the ancient shop, Harry spotted a mob of red hair moving in and out of the stores. _'Weasley's' _As Harry entered the shop, alerting the wand maker by the small bell going off, Harry made his way to the wand accesories section towards the rear of the shop. It had always amazed Harry that Ollivander had so many wands, just waiting for an eleven year old child to be picked by one of them.

Harry was quickly interupted by his chain of thought when Ollivander appeared in front of him.

"Ahh, Mr. Potter, it has been a long time since the last time you came in here correct. Well,I hope your wand is still functioning properly. Holly and pheonix feather, correct. Yes, very strong combination. Tricky to control to an average witch or wizard, but you are far from average. Mr. Potter, when you first stepped into my shop, your aura was bright and pure. Now when I look at it, it is blinding to the eye, yet still pure. If possible, even more pure to your ideals and beliefs."

"Mr Ollivander sir, I only came in for a wand holster, some polish and a problem that I hoped you could answer." Harry interupted, if he hadn't then, Ollivander would have continued for god knows how long.

"Yes, yes, sorry about my rambling my dear boy. What is the problem that you have?"

"You told me on my very first visit here that I had the brother wand to Voldemort. As you are very well aware of, he has arisen again. It was very unfortunate and very fortunate that I duelled him just over a year and a half ago. You see, _Priori Incatatem _occured, it saved my life, I am grateful for that. But if I am ever to have a chance, I need to be able to duel."

"Curious. Yes Mr. Potter, very fortunate indeed. I expect you saw your parents yes?" Harry gave him a nod, he didn't trust himself to speak when his parents were bought up into conversation. "Well Mr Potter. I am afraid that there is no way around that with your wand. It would have to resort to a muggle style of fighting."

"Well, thank you for your advice. It'll just be the polish and holster for today then please."

"Mr. Potter, you have seemed to misunderstood me. You cannot duel with _your_ wand. If you desire, you can come into my workshop and we can create you a custom wand. They are very powerful, and very rare. The last one I made was for your headmaster back in the forties when Grindewald was a threat. Only a powerful witch or wizard can handle these, and going by your auraI expect you will be able to control it extremelly well."

"Does this have to do with the CVS I went through?"

"Excuse me my dear boy, what did you just say?"

"Does the whole custom wand thing have to do with the eight days I was out fighting Cito Veneficus Subolesco?"

"Well Mr Potter, there is still hope for the light then. An answer to your question. I only make custom wands for those of pure heart and that have an aura similiar to yours. A magical folk that has an aura that reaches a certain power level will be the only customers to these wands. Now then, if you would like to follow me to my workshop." Ollivander flicked his wand, the sign on the door turned from open to closed.

They entered a stairwell under a rug behind the counter. It was lit with torches, however it didn't feel like a dungeon. It was truly a master's workshop, full of jars with various magical materials, and thousands of woods, set out on a bench in a straight line.

"Now then Mr Potter, whatI want you to do is to pass your wand hand over the various types of wood. You will know when you have arrived at your perfect wood type." Harry passed his hand over the various types of wood, every now and then he would pause, then continue on his search. After five minutes of searching Harry stopped. "This one, I sort of feel like i do when i have my wand in my hand."

"An excellent choice I must say myself. I will not reveal it to you yet, it may bias your choice on the core. Now then, would you do the same for me over the jars over there." Whilst Harry had been finding his wood, Ollivander had obviously set out the jars on another bench.

"Do not worry if you find more than one material Mr Potter. Dumbledore's wand has three different materials in it alone."

Harry passed his hand over the jars. Stopping at a beautiful gold and red feather, a small deposit of a white powder and what could only be described as a golden collection of fur.

"How interesting Mr Potter. Could you just hold out your wand arm please." A dusty old tape measure appeared and took the exact lengths of his fingers, wrist width and arm length.

"Twelve and three quarter invhesit'll be then." He began to wave his wand, the materials all doing amazing things in the air, spinning and merging with the other materials. The mixed materials then coated the now lengthened wood. In a blast of white light, the wood absorbed the materials.

"Oh yes, a flawless wand. Perfect in every way possible. Certainly more powerful than Dumbledore's, but you can handle it." Ollivander's misty eyes showed a gleam of excitement when he handed Harry the wand.

The warmth of it was incredible. it was like being in a hot tub, but without getting wet. And the power, the power was emense. It was coming off in waves, when Harry concentrated on it on a period of time, he could actually see the gold waves coming off of it. _'Did I just see the aura of this thing?'_ Harry thought.

"Now then Mr Potter, what you have there is an wood called Hemlock. Merlin himself had that type of wood. It is a poisoness wood when in link to mother nature, but when out of it, it is just another magicalwood. Legend says that Hemlock is well versed in necromancy, but that hasn't be seen in centuries, unless of couse you count inferi. Even they are magical and do not have a will. The gold and red feather was from a pheonix that appeared a few days ago. I had an urge to go to Scotland to Hogwarts forbidden forset and I came upon this stray phoenix. Very strange indeed, they normally bond with someone soon after they arrived or go in search for their partner. The next material, the white powder, was that of a unicorn horn of an ancinet elder, believed to be around when the founders were building the school. And the last, the fur.ThatMr. Potter was from Godric Gryffindor's very own golden Gryffin. Some say that it is actually fur from him in his animagus form, but their hasn't been a magical animagus since the time of Camelot."

Harry was gobsmacked. "So, the wand, the holster and the polish. How much will that come to?" Harry asked

"Mr. Potter, that wand is going to be doing great things for the future. I am fairly certain that you have secured the next twenty generations of eleven year olds to come and get their wands. But I am a business man after all. All together, lets say two hundred galleons. Considering the rarety of the materials and wood, i deem it very resonable."

Harry pulled out the correct amount, muttered a goodbye, walked back up into the store, and left, feeling like nothing could stop him.

* * *

Did you like, not like? That's one of the hardest chapters i've had to write so far. Well, it's done now. Thanks for all of the reviews. Does give me a boost to keep on writing.

REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS

Untill next time

Polymagus


	8. Happy Birthday Decisions

Chapter 8

Harry could barely take his eyes off of his wand over the rest of the day after he had returned from Diagon Alley. To him it wasn't just a magical wand; it was a masterpiece, a beautiful carved piece of wood worthy of a master craftsman. Harry had admired it from possibly every angle, the light reflecting off of the newly polished dark surface, making it look as if it had streaks of a light brown wood encrusted into it.

On later inspection of the wand in the Library, when Hermione was having her 'light reading' session (this time about wizarding laws considering the use of magic), Harry noticed the intricately engraved designs and Celtic patterns taking up the entire surface area of the wood, except for the handle, which supposedly had his name engraved in it in Elfish that was supposed to make him the only one able to cast magic from it. Well that was what Mr. Ollivander had told him.

Harry hadn't noticed the designs of his wand when it was magically being crafted; in fact, he was too mesmerized from the power that had radiated off of it when he held it, the feeling of warmth that wrapped covered him like a blanket. There were runes that Hermione had pointed out to him, and upon later inspection, were meant to help strengthen the wand and make it as balanced as possible, Hermione had also pointed out the significance in what the lengths of wands meant and what the different types of woods for wands were known for.

"Honestly Harry, don't you ever listen in your classes. Professor Snape always mentions what different woods are used for in potions. And not to mention that in History of Magic, professor Binns is always going on about the types of woods used for Goblin weapons and the like." This was what Hermione did best. It was obvious to Harry that she could go on for hours in her own little world.

"For instance, Birch wood is white correct." Harry gave a feeble nod. "Well, it symbolizes light, healing and new beginnings. Elder wood is well known for allowing portals to open, a link between realms, but that hasn't been heard of since the time of Merlin. Your old wand, Holly wood, it is used an awful lot in combat, well known in protection methods and also is rumoured to ward off evil. It's an evergreen tree, meaning endurance. Do I need to continue? The wand you have now, well, the wood is supposed to be very well versed in Necromancy, but you wouldn't do anything like that would you Harry. Voldemort's wand, yew, well, it's most commonly known for process of resurrection, whether it be natural like phoenix's, or done my dark magic rituals. The yew wood stabilizes the process rather well. I don't know if he told you, but Ollivander told me that the wand chooses the wizard Harry, this basically proves it. The woods properties generally symbolize some of the activities that we go through throughout our lifetime."

Harry and Hermione had been in the library for a while now, both mesmerized in there different studies. It was only when Ginny came up to find them that she told Harry that it was his birthday the following day. To be truthful, Harry hadn't really thought about it that much. He knew he was going to be sixteen, but to him it wasn't that special. After all, all of his previous birthdays had been solemn and modest. The most he had received was the love from his friends and family, and he was very pleased with that. Material goods didn't particularly mean much to Harry, more the thought behind them that made them special for him. He was still getting used to having presents, his first Christmas being the best one by far.

"Thanks Ginny, I never really think about it that much to be honest."

"But Harry, it's your _birthday_; you're going to be sixteen. That's a milestone in the wizarding world!" It was becoming quite clear to Harry that Ginny still had her old crush on him by the slight tint of pink rising in her cheeks after even having a conversation with him. In fact, he was a rather impressed she hadn't done anything utterly stupid just yet. Harry didn't pry for details but from what he had asked Ginny over meals and in passing, she still had more than friendly thoughts about him. The fact that he was going out with Hermione obviously bugged her, but she wasn't going to make Harry unhappy by intruding all of the time. It just wasn't right to do so. After all, she was a Weasley. They may be a bunch of red headed individuals, but they never made people unhappy, well, except maybe Percy.

Harry and Hermione had finished up quite quickly after Ginny had left, mentioning that dinner was to be served soon. The dinner was, as usual, a spectacular achievement by Mrs. Weasley, filling all of the Weasleys present, Harry, Hermione and some of the order passing by.

"Ok dears," she mentioned to Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny "You can go up to your rooms now." The request wasn't said sharply but it was obvious that an Order meeting was going to take place. And without further persuasion, they made there way back upstairs, passing the non-existent Mrs. Black painting.

Harry gave Hermione a sound kiss, making Ginny turn away and Ron squirm (honestly!) and departed to their different bedrooms.

As soon as Harry entered his and Ron's room, and Ron had left for the bathroom, Harry undressed, par his boxers and stood there facing the mirror. What stared back at him was rather a shock.

Harry might have known that he was scrawny and thin, but on a close inspection he knew that to be wrong. There was a small bit of muscle here and there, but nothing to show a healthy young man.

It was plainly obvious that something was going to have to be done about it.

"I think it's time I got to make this into something" he whispered to himself as he stared at his torso. He got into bed and for the next few minutes simply started at the pasty ceiling. He didn't notice Ron walking back in the room, he didn't know how much time had past as he lay staring, but before Harry knew it, he was asleep.

The room that a rather podgy individual had just entered was, to say the least, grim. The walls were made of fractured stone; each and every one seemed to be giving off a faintly sick green light from the water trickling on them, illuminating ever so slightly by the algae that rest upon them. The floor was uneven, splotches of a dried dark substance splattered here and there. In the centre of this rather sickly room sat lord Voldemort, his wand twirling in his hands.

"What news do you have for me Wormtail?" he asked, the words slipping off of his tongue.

"My Lord, the attack at Potter's home didn't go as planned. He was able to…" he stopped; Voldemort had raised a rather white and thin finger to silence him.

"This is not the news I was expecting Wormtail, CRUCIO!" Pettigrew collapsed on the blood stained floor, every inch of his body writhing in pain. After what seemed like an eternity, the curse was lifted. "What of the others?" he inquired.

"B...b…Bella was k…k…killed m…my lord, and Lucius was killed b…by a snake." Wormtail was struggling to control his fear that was coursing through his body; he knew what was coming next.

"CRUCIO!!" The pain was worse than before, his nerve endings were splitting, his body twisting and turning through the turmoil. "This is very bad news Wormtail, how did you survive?"

"I…I...I was stunned, Johnson was able to revive me just before the others got there. Sn…Snape was with the muggle loving fool, fighting against us. I transformed into my rat form and ran from the house. There was n…nothing I could do my lord."

"Very well Wormtail, and I shall deal with Snape the next time I see him. Now leave me."

Harry woke, sweat glistening off of his body. He had just witnessed Lord Voldemort and Wormtail. _I'll tell Dumbledore when I next see him_ he thought.

Tossing his duvet off of him and placing his _dream_ to the back of his mind, Harry haphazardly put on a pair of shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt,

The party was a small affair, only Ron and Hermione and Ginny were there that were from Hogwarts, but that didn't really bother Harry much. The rest of the Weasleys bar the three eldest sons were there along with Remus and Tonks, the newest couple; pushed by Sirius' will. The only other people that were in attendance were order members that Harry knew of, that being Dung, some of the Hogwart's professors and his 'guard'.

When the clock struck midnight Ron was the first to shout out "PRESENTS!" the people around him had to jump a yard or two to avoid losing their hearing.

Unsurprisingly, everyone agreed to go to the large drawing room to see what everyone had got for Harry. It was rather interesting to see what everyone had got for a boy with so much money that he could buy anything he wanted.

Over the next twenty minutes Harry opened his gifts with vigour and thanked every single person for what they had gotten him.

From Ron he received his normal selection of sweets, 'Same old Ron, nothing imaginative' Harry thanked him anyway. To be frank, he was getting a bit too old to have loads of candy. Though Dumbledore did and still does his Sherbet Lemons. Hermione had given him a pendant with a picture of his parents inside, she had also gotten him a very dusty book called Magical Artefacts throughout history', which was certainly going to help identify all of the items in his vault. The Weasley's had given him the usual home baked goods; Ginny had participated in this as well apparently.

What really interested him was all of the wizarding gadgets he received from Tonks, Remus and Moody. There was a selection of dark detectors for him from Moody; Harry couldn't wait to investigate them further. Tonks and Remus had pitched in to get him a selection of Auror level defense items, which included an anti-summoning wand holster, and a certificate saying that he was welcomed into Auror training. To say the least Harry was ecstatic.

The last gift was rather large and semi-spherical. Harry had deliberately left it last seeming, as it was a gift from the headmaster, but also because of its weird shape. Upon hastily ripping the paper open. Harry let out a small gasp. It was a pensieve, Harry knew how rare they were and expensive, how had Dumbledore gotten his old hands on it?

This particular one wasn't close to Dumbledore's pensieve. Dumbledore's was grey and about thirty inches in diameter. This one however, was onyx black, the runes around the edges in gold. Also, this pensieve must have been about five inches larger than that of Dumbledore's.

"I think a bit of an explanation is in order Harry. That pensieve you have there Harry was a gift that I received from a very primitive race. I was told to pass on to you. From what I understand, and considering it was another language that they were speaking, I believe that some very talented dwarves came across a boulder of onyx whilst mining some rather expensive gems. From what I could tell, a craftsman sculpted that and had a rune caster from the elves imprint the runes. A rather tricky job I do believe, especially seeming as in dwarven and elvish lore, the two races have always had some sort of feud against each other. I would treasure that Harry, to put it simply, it is not my gift, but a gift from a very secretive race, and a very well respected race at that." The usual twinkle in the headmasters' eyes was present.

"Thank you, sir." Harry replied utterly gob smacked. He definitely wasn't expecting anything on this sort of scale.

"I was hoping Harry that you could use it to organize your mind. After all, it certainly would come in handy with all of the training that you are going to be receiving this year and possibly next." Harry raised an eyebrow at his last comment.

The rest of the party was a blur to Harry; all that he could remember was the excitement and the atmosphere that derived from it. What he could remember however was the odd glare coming from Ron once every so often. Passing it as a small bit of jealousy for getting gifts, he let it slip by.

'_Legilemcy, I think that is certainly the first thing I'm going to be studying. I just hope he's not doing a fourth year on me again.' _Harrythought, thinking of RonHarry, though still excited from the party, was rather tired. He had eaten a couple of slices of cake and was rather full, _'It's all that icing I swear.'_

Harry made his way up to his and Ron's room, taking his gifts up with him, leaving the party behind. Placing the gifts at the foot of his bed, he went through his nightly ritual of undressing. Grabbing the pensieve and placing by his side, Harry began to think of what memories he could place in his new pensieve.

Harry soon realised that it was a lot harder than it look when Dumbledore had placed a memory. He had to constantly think of the specific memory otherwise the silver strand connected to his wand would fizzle out. It was rather quite annoying, but on the sixth attempt Harry was able to place his first memory into the decorative bowl. A memory that he never wanted to forget, and one that he wanted to repeat over and over again. The one magical moment that nothing else mattered in the world.

It was simply just Him and Hermione, sharing their first passionate kiss.


	9. Adoption

Heya to all. I'm putting this story up for adoption. I would love to see it continue but I just don't have the amount of time and effort to make this story what it can be. If anyone is interested, give me a personal message and I'll have a look at what you've already written etc…

I'll let everyone know when someone else has taken the story over

Polymagus


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